Amalgam carrier



Ju 295, 1941. E. W. RUTROUGH 2,251,206

AMALGAM CARRIER Filed May 14, 1940 Patented July 29, 1941 This inventionrelates to dentalitools, andmore particularly, to amalgam carriers foryplacing amalgam in cavities in teeth.

Dental tools or instrumentsfmust meet several requirements. They must besmall and so designed as to reach all partsfof the mouth; theyVV must beadapted to easy andV perfectY sterilization; and they must havenoeXposedmoving parts which might pinch or cut the mouth'ofthe patient. All ofthese requirements are of the utmost importance.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an amalgam carrier whichvwill meet these requirements. The invention contemplates a smallinstrument for the transportation of amalgam, or other soft filling, toa cavity in a tooth. The instrument is so-designed that all movingVparts in that portion of the instrument which enters the mouth arecompletely housed toensure protection to the mouth of the patient. Forproper sterilization, all parts of an instrument must be disassembledand placed in a sterilizer separately. The ease with whichtlieinstrument may be assembled or disassembled4 often determineswhether or not it receives` proper sterilization. The entire instrumentof the present invention may be readily disassembled into itsv componentparts forcleaning and sterilization. Thisfeature also adds to the easewith which worn or broken parts-maybe replaced;

This in broad terms isthe purposeof the invention. For details ofconstruction, attentionis directed to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of"apreferred emf bodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectionthrough the instrument to an enlargedscale, a portion of the handle being brokenaway;

Figure 3 is a front end`elevation; and

Figure 4 is a horizontalv section on'the'line ll--ll of Figure 2.

As the great majority Aof cavities in teeth are prepared for fillingthrough the use of an electric drill, the instrument embodying theconcepts of the present invention is designed to follow as closely aspossible the general configuration of the electric drill.

It will be seen from the drawing that the body portion of the instrumentis a housing 5, separable along its longitudinal center line into anupper section 6 and a lower section 'l. One of the sections of thehousing has a tongue 8 depending from its forward end adapted to t intoa matching depression 9 in the other section to and that .the forceapplied tothe plungerv by 'tlie .to -tlie plunger.

keep the forward: portion of the sections in proper alignment. The rearends ofA the sections,l when together, form a screwthreaded boss l0'v ofless diameter thany the housing. A handle II having a-screwthreadedboreI2 threadsoverl the boss l) to clamp the sections of the housing tight-Vly together. 'I'his housing providesl a cover for all moving parts ofthe device to protect the'V mouth of the patient and prevent lling orother matter from clogging the parts.

Pivotally mounted on a pin IBFpassingvthrough the lower section of thehousing, is an operating lever lll. One arm ofAV the lever extendsdow-n-A wardly and rearwardly as at I5 through aslot in the lowerhalf'Ofl the housing to form an operating trigger, while the arm I6' ofthe lever extends forwardly to engage a plunger Il. The plunger I7' ismountedfor reciprocation within an amalgamV receiving chamber IScontained in ahead" IYSfwhich isthreaded in an openingin the undersideof section 'l of the housing, as at M -1' It will be noted that thelongitudinalaxis of the amalgam-receivingnhamber and consequently themovement ofv4 the plunger is at right angles to the axis of the bodyportion of the instrument,

lever is longitudinal of the amalgamchamber.

To'ensure smooth operation ofthe plunger I?, as well as ease of assemblyand disassembly, the

i'plunger is provided with a reduced neck 2| land aetapered head22;liever Illhas` at its forwardenda slot 23toreceive the neckZ-l oftheplunger i-T. Movement of the leveri I 41 by means'ofthel triggerV |5-willl` impart aY reciprocating mot-ion lever willi bear against theshoulder 24 on the plunger, while in its-upwardmovement the leverl willrock against the tapered' head 222 The tapered head allowsforrockingmovement betweentlie leverandthe plunger thus eliminating binding.

A.spring.2.5 is interposedibetween the housing and the trigger l5 of thelever, held in position by a boss 26 on the housing and a boss 21 on thetrigger. This spring exerts pressure against the lever to maintain theplunger in normal raised position.

In the use of the device, amalgam which has been prepared for lling, maybe placed upon any iiat surface and the amalgam receiving chamberpressed onto it. This will force a certain amount of the amalgam intothe chamber. When a suincient amount of the filling has been placed inthe chamber, the instrument is inserted in the mouth with the amalgamchamber directly over In' its downward movementV the Y the cavity in thetooth. Pressure upon the trigger l5 will force the plunger downwardlythrough the chamber, expelling the filling into the tooth. The amalgamis then condensed or packed with other instruments, and this operationis continued until the cavity is properly iilled.

After the dentist has inished treating a patient, it is necessary thatthe instrument be sterilized before it is used on another patient. Forcomplete sterilization, the instrument must be completely disassembledand the various parts placed in the sterilizer separately. Todisassemble the instrument, the handle Il is rst unscrewed and takenoff, leaving the two sections of the housing readily separable. Thepivot pin I3 of the lever I4 is pulled out and the lever moved backwardin the slot 1', releasing the plunger I1 from the lever. The head I9 isremoved from the section I of the housing completing the disassemblingof the instrument. By reason of the construction employed, all portionsof the instrument will be separated, there will be no joint or crevicein which bacterial may lodge, and all parts may be readily sterilized.After sterilization the parts may be easily reassembled for use.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. An amalgam carrier comprising a split housing, a handle removablysecured to one end of said housing to clamp the housing together, a headhaving an amalgam receiving chamber removably secured to the oppositeend of said housing, a lever pivotally mounted in the housing, and aplunger carried by said lever for reciprocation within the amalgamreceiving chamber.

2. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing having separable sections,one of said sections having an amalgam receiving chamber removablysecured thereto, a lever pivotally mounted in said housing and carryinga plunger for reciprocation in the amalgam chamber, and a handleremovably secured to said housing to clamp the sections together.

3. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing, a lever pivotally mounted insaid housing, and a head having an amalgam receiving chamber, saidhousing comprising separable sections having matching threaded portions,and a handle having a threaded bore to receive the threaded portions ofsaid housing and clamp the sections together, said lever having aplunger removably secured thereto -:for reciprocation vwithin theamalgam receiving chamber, and a spring between sald housing and saidlever.

4. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing, a lever pivotally mounted insaid housing and a handle, said housing comprising separable sectionshaving matching threaded portions, and a head having an amalgamreceiving chamber rcmovably secured to one of said sections, said handlehaving a screwthreaded bore to receive a threaded portion of the housingand clamp the sections together, a plunger removably secured to thelever for reciprocation within said amalgam receiving chamber, and aspring between said housing and said lever.

5. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing portion, a handle portionsecured to the rear end of the housing portion, said housing portionbeing provided in its bottom with a slot located adjacent to its rearend, a head having an amalgam receiving chamber secured to and dependingfrom the housing portion adjacent to its front end, a lever pivotallymounted in the housing portion adjacent to the slot and having anactuating arm enclosed in the housing portion and a trigger projectingoutwardly and downwardly from the housing portion through said slot, anda plunger connected within the housing portion to the actuating arm ofsaid lever for reciprocation within the amalgam receiving chamber.

6. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing formed of longitudinallydivided separable upper and lower sections, the lower section having aslot in the bottom thereof, means at the for ward ends of the sectionsto detachably interconnect them when assembled against relativedisplacement, a detachable handle engaging and clamping the housingsections together at their rear ends, a lever pivotally mounted upon thelower housing section and having an actuating arm enclosed in saidhousing and a trigger projecting from the housing through said slot, aplunger connected to said actuating arm of the lever, and a head havingan amalgam receiving chamber to coact with the plunger, said head beingremovably secured to the bottom of the lower section of the housing anddepending therefrom.

'7. An amalgam carrier comprising a housing formed of longitudinallydivided separable upper and lower sections, the lower section having aslot in the bottom thereof, means at the forward ends of the sections todetachably interconnect them when assembled against relativedisplacement, a detachable handle engaging and clamping the housingsections together at their rear ends, a lever pivotally mounted upon thelower housing section and having an actuating arm enclosed in saidhousing and a trigger projecting from the housing through said slot, aspring extending through the slot and bearing upon the housing andtrigger to normally hold the lever in retracted position, a plungerdetachably connected to said actuating arm of the lever, and a headhaving an amalgam receiving chamber to coact with the plunger, said headbeing removably secured to the bottom of the lower section of thehousing and depending therefrom.

BRUCE W. RUTROUGH.

